How do you stay organized?

bit_slicer

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<insert maniacal laughter here!>

With the queue in double-digits currently and spring cleaning horribly behind schedule, I'm having a tad-bit of anxiety over staying organized with all the orders. I do have a process in place but I'm always looking to improve on it. Shortly after starting the business (and nearly sending two boards to the wrong customers! :eek:) I adopted a color-scheme: Assign each current customer a color which gets put on the incoming box, shop order, board tag, outgoing box, invoice, payment receipt, and ultimately shipping manifest. That way the invoice matches the board, which matches the box, which matches the address on the shop order, and (God willing) nothing gets screwed up. So far so good! :D

What kinds of schemes do you use to stay organized?
 
I don't run a business but basically just throw everything in a pile and hope for the best! LOL.

Current I've been tinkering with a box of Space Invaders boards I got and they're laid out all over the place with sticky notes on them. I used to have stringed repair tickets but threw them away about 6 months ago when I realized I'll never do repairs again. Sigh. Now I'm prob gonna hit up Staples for some new ones (at least small tags).
 
what if you just didnt tkae itm out of the box until you got up to the point of working on that board?
 
I use those heavy paper cardstock tags with string on them from Office Max to tag everything. They work great since just about every board has a hole in the corner, or a test point loop you can run the string through.

Spreadsheets- lots of them with color coding too.

After that, the main challenge that remains is keeping track of the guys that:

PM you from one user name / then email you from different one / then send payment from their relatives Paypal / then ask you to ship to a different address from yet a different email address, AND NEVER GIVE THEIR FULL NAME IN ANY OF THE CORRESPONDENCE
 
what if you just didnt tkae itm out of the box until you got up to the point of working on that board?

Yep I do that too. Will usually not tag the box until I open it - cuts down on the number of open work orders. I've got a separate spreadsheet for receiving and queueing too. It does add alot more work, but I sleep ok at night. :D
 
After that, the main challenge that remains is keeping track of the guys that:

PM you from one user name / then email you from different one / then send payment from their relatives Paypal / then ask you to ship to a different address from yet a different email address, AND NEVER GIVE THEIR FULL NAME IN ANY OF THE CORRESPONDENCE

LOL ok I need a new keyboard now! :D You're preachin' to me brotha! What I need is a good website customers can use to input their info and then use that to track. Also, save customers so they can login, press a button and retrieve their info. One site, one spreadsheet.
 
My timing may not be the best:D... But, do ya happen to have a spare 6502 that I could bum? No hurry.:p Thanks.

Good luck on your organizing;)

Dang Brian, not only did you hijack my thread, but to ask for free stuff. :p

Send me your contact info and I'll get one out to you. I've got one on a spare board I can give you. BTW, I think arcadechips.com still sells these?
 
I keep a MS word spreadsheet that I keep track of incoming orders, repair jobs and basically everything and anything I dont want to forget about.
 
Dang Brian, not only did you hijack my thread, but to ask for free stuff. :p

Send me your contact info and I'll get one out to you. I've got one on a spare board I can give you. BTW, I think arcadechips.com still sells these?

Sure you wanna deal with this dude? Not sure I have your courage.

bryanschwanz.jpg
 
LOL ok I need a new keyboard now! :D You're preachin' to me brotha! What I need is a good website customers can use to input their info and then use that to track. Also, save customers so they can login, press a button and retrieve their info. One site, one spreadsheet.

This can be arranged...
 
I don't run a business but basically just throw everything in a pile and hope for the best! LOL.
QUOTE]

Same here. I don't have a huge amount of stuff and most of it is on shelves. I do however have some monitor glass pieces and a nonworking monitor in the vicinity of where my trash bags get chucked before going to the curb. In the 4 years that I have lived in this house, nothing has been destroyed, so I figure, all is well.
 
LOL AT THAT pic and the men sign comment, you guys are to funny!
 
<insert maniacal laughter here!>



What kinds of schemes do you use to stay organized?

I gave up on being organized years ago. I just fly by the seat of my pants. How it hasn't come to bite me in the ass is unbelievable. You got me thinking....How many projects (not mine, but other peoples) do I have in the shop? I just went and counted.....well, I stopped counting at 70! Geeze, what the hell am I doing playing on the computer :)

Edward
 
I gave up on being organized years ago. I just fly by the seat of my pants. How it hasn't come to bite me in the %@#(*$ is unbelievable. You got me thinking....How many projects (not mine, but other peoples) do I have in the shop? I just went and counted.....well, I stopped counting at 70! Geeze, what the hell am I doing playing on the computer :)

Edward

You just caused 65 people to feel discouraged. ;)
 
You just caused 65 people to feel discouraged. ;)

I am 90% local/regional drop offs (or pick-ups). I try to avoid mail order repair....for this sole reason.....I always seem to be WAY backed up (though, right now is an all time high). :)

Edward
 
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